I applied for a new passport for our seven-year-old son the other day, but was stumped by the lines asking for “Father’s Name” and “Mother’s Name.” Yes, I’m used to this on forms—medical forms, school forms, etc.—as I’m sure many of you are, but since a passport is such a key piece of identity (and passport officials can be picky about crossing stuff out), this application irked me more than most.
I decided to do something about it, as I explain in more detail over at Change.org. The State Department under President Obama and Sec. Hillary Clinton has been one of the most LGBT-friendly federal departments, and has made several other changes in passport procedures to better reflect LGBT lives. Changing the application to say “Parent 1″ and “Parent 2″ would be a small, accurate, and inclusive change, and could serve as a model for other forms.
Click the widget below to send an e-mail to Sec. of State Hillary Clinton asking that the State Department take action on this. (And click “Get Widget” to put the widget on your own site.)
Do you recommend crossing out “Father’s Name” & “Mother’s Name”, and replacing with “Parent 1″ & “Parent 2″? Will this cause a bureaucratic headache?
Amy: I’d recommend asking your passport agent (at your town clerk’s office, or post office, or wherever you go for your passport) what to do before crossing out anything. What you describe is exactly what I did do–but only after asking. My local passport agent then called the main office in Boston to confirm. On most school and medical forms, yeah, I’d say just cross things out–but passports are special, and the passport folks can be picky about any crossouts. But if you ask first–even if you think you know the answer–then you have some backup should anyone question it later on.
It reminds me of the marriage license application in Massachusetts, which has been updated to be more GLBT-friendly by having blanks for “Party A” and “Party B” instead of “Bride” and “Groom,” and yet still asks for “Mother’s Name“ and “Father’s Name” for each of the people marrying.
Ha! I’d forgotten about that until you mentioned it, S. But you’re absolutely right–it’s particularly ironic on the Mass. application.
[...] and “Parent.” Over 900 people signed, including, I assume, some of you who read my post about it here at [...]